NOVEL NEXT vol. 1 chapter 23 - “The things you can’t do, I will do for you.”
Chapter 23 – “The things you can’t do, I will do for you.”
The law is a set of corrective rules, the bottom line of public society, the boundary that limits freedom. It is both the sword and the shield that safeguard justice, and the scale that weighs in each individual’s heart.
When the warriors that are supposed to uphold the authority of law abandon their loyalty, when the balanced scales of justice are tilted by greed and lust, when those in positions of power are lured into the vortex of desire… Written law becomes meaningless paper, grand courtrooms become noisy stages of theatre, fairness and justice sway and drift like a small, fragile boat upon turbulent waters.
It was as if someone had just taken a sledgehammer and slammed it into Qin Mu’s chest. The disappointment and rage that welled up in his throat tasted of metallic blood. His whole world seemed to sway on the brink of collapse. The once unshakeable city of his belief collapsed in a roar. And he stood in its ruins, not knowing what to do.
All this time, he had been confident he could restore justice for Professor Xiao because he believed that so long as the case worked its way up through the judicial system, it would sooner or later find a place where fairness and justice would prevail. But now it seemed that the people who held the highest authority of legal rulings had long become puppets, pulled and controlled by others – what justice was there to speak of?
Qin Mu clenched his fists, his eyes reddening.
Though they were all men of law, Professor Xiao, who tried to help defenceless victims, lost his life to cruel retaliation. But these beasts cloaked in human skin feasted on the bodies of the young, and permitted Zhao Jinchuan’s lawless impunity for the sake of their private desires.
Now he knew why Shen Liu had brought him here. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed these people had sunk to such depraved depths. The flames of anger that had burned through his heart left behind an empty wasteland. He hung his head as if drained of all strength, with his back against the wall, and remained in long silence.
Shen Liu handed him some hot tea, “Have some.”
Qin Mu shook his head. From his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and held it in his mouth. The cigarette and lighter, he had casually asked Tao Ze fir that morning. Huanghelou 1916. A good brand.
He looked to the person next to him, silently asking.
Shen Liu shrugged, “Go ahead.”
Qin Mu lit the cigarette and took a deep puff. The smell of tobacco quietly spread through the room.
“When did you start smoking?” Shen Liu asked.
“Been a few years. Just the occasional one.” The smoke deepened his voice, taking on a husky rasp.
Noticing his vague answer, Shen Liu didn’t ask further.
The room was entirely dark except for the faint moonlight and the single spark of light. The two stood by the window, one on the left, one on the right, in unusual quiet.
By the time Qin Mu finished the cigarette and lifted his eyes once more, the light in them was now calm. He considered his words before saying, “I want the video footage.”
This place had a perfect vantage point, it was fully equipped and clearly hadn’t been set up for only a day or two. Shen Liu most certainly hadn’t surveilled these people “just to have a look”.
“Do what you can and let heaven take care of the rest.” Qin Mu lifted his eyes to Shen Liu, holding his gaze. He seemed emotional, “This thing, I must do. Even if it’s hitting a rock with an egg, even if it’s a moth to the flame, even if I lose my life to it, it doesn’t matter. Life is short. This thing we call meaning is but something we ourselves define. Whether or not something is worth it depends on how we judge it in our own hearts. The reason I am on this road, the reason I have made this decision, even if others cannot understand, you should understand.”
Shen Liu narrowed his eyes.
The person before him seemed to coincide with the tenacious youth from all those years ago. The light in his eyes was clear, pure, impossible to look away from.
“I… should understand?” He savoured the lingering taste of those words, drawing out the inflection of his voice. He curled his lips, “They say that even after three days of separation, one should look at a scholar with clean eyes. You sure have cleansed my eyes. Even playing your courtroom defences on me. Though, I have to say, if you’re trying to steal the cards in my hands with just that, aren’t you a little too greedy?”
The emotion on Qin Mu’s face faded in an instant. He had a sip of tea, his face expressionless, “All this effort you’ve spent in setting the stage, isn’t it all for the act of me begging you?”
In the time of a cigarette, he had thought through the whole chain of events. Shen Liu knew his temperament better than anyone in the world. Naturally, he would know he wouldn’t back down after witnessing the scene. The purpose of bringing him here was probably so that he would see firsthand the difficulty of winning the case, and then ask Shen Liu for the favour.
Shen Liu let out a short laugh, but there was no laughter in his eyes.
Qin Mu leaned against the window and said, “Whatever you want, just say it.”
“That’s bold of you.” Shen Liu swept a glance at him and teased, “What if I asked you to run outside naked?”
Qin Mu looked at him sideways.
“Just kidding. Don’t take it seriously.”
“You going to give it or not?” Qin Mu’s patience was spent.
“No rush. Let’s go over it one by one.” Shen Liu poured him another cup of tea and slowly counted on his fingers as he spoke, “If you want justice for those victims, then you’d have to win the case. To win the case, you’d have to bring down Zhao Jinchuan. To bring down Zhao Jinchuan, you’d have to get rid of his father. His father, Zhao Dongshen, is the main money-maker of the Zhaos. His roots run deep. It won’t be easy to cut him down. Above Zhao Dongshen, there are two older brothers. The eldest, Zhao Qiming, has been fighting tooth and nail with my father for that position. The second brother, Zhao Weiguo, commands quite a few men in the army. On top of these, there’s an older sister who steadies the ship from abroad. And above them all is Old General Shen, who is as shrewd as ever. # Nоvеlight # He’s nearly one hundred years old, yet still kicking around quite energetically. Just a few days ago, he got in his wheelchair and raised his hand in the assembly vote. The Zhaos, apart from the immediate family, include a whole host of family lineages, adding another seventy or eighty people. When going up against such a vast group of people, there are typically only two outcomes: you either wipe them all out, or you die without even a body to bury. Which one do you think you’d be?”
Qin Mu was silent.
“Thus, rather than giving you the evidence and sending you off to the guillotine, it’s worth more being held by me as a card in a bigger hand.”
The pupils of Qin Mu’s eyes contracted at those words, and he snapped his gaze at him.
“Don’t you want revenge? What are you glaring at me for?” The man spoke with a careless tone, as if he had just made a decision on something utterly trivial.
“This is my business. It shouldn’t involve you.” Qin Mu’s tone hardened.
Shen Liu’s gaze slowly circled his face, “So many should-not’s. Yet you haven’t done a single should-have.”
Qin Mu was taken aback.
“Don’t understand? Let me teach you.” He took an unhurried step closer, “Right now, I am your only chance at taking down Zhao Jinchuan. You should be humbling yourself to curry favour with me, doing everything in your power to persuade me into an all-out war with the Zhaos. You should be strategically using past affections so that I will willingly fight with the Zhaos for you. At the very least, you should flirt, play coy, play mind games, carefully scheming to make me give you more resources and connections for your own use.” Shen Liu stood in front of him and asked, “Do you get it?”
Qin Mu frowned. Just as he was about to speak, the man suddenly stepped another half-step closer. The feeling of sudden pressure intensified. He instinctively tensed and wanted to step back, but behind him was the wall, and there was nowhere to move.
“What, you can’t do it?” The man’s voice deepened, “I am willing to storm the gate for beauty, but you disdain to be the all-powerful seductress. Clinging on to that shred of pride, you’d rather die than ask for my help. Is this how much you want to distance yourself from me?”
This oppressive closeness made Qin Mu extremely uncomfortable. He raised his hand to push the man away, but in the next second, it was pinned against his side. Their chests were pressed together. Even through the clothes, he could feel the firm strength of the man’s muscles.
“You…”
“In your dreams.” Shen Liu pressed his cheek against Qin Mu’s ear. He pronounced the syllables of those three words quite forcefully, as if he were about to take a hard bite on his neck. “The things you can’t do, I will do for you. The wishes you have, I will make them come true for you. The condition is simple – spend one night with me. As for how, I will set the rules. If you can’t accept, then be a good boy and get the hell back to K City. And from tonight onwards, you will not touch a single matter related to the Zhaos.”
Qin Mu widened his eyes in utter disbelief. The situation was completely beyond his anticipation. He was reeling. He struggled free from his grip and shoved him back hard. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Are you out of your mind?”
Shen Liu’s leg hit the coffee table. The cups shattered on the floor. Almost immediately, long-faced man and the others burst in. Qin Mu was startled.
Shen Liu frowned with irritation and said in a cold voice, “Out.”
The bodyguards, seeing that he was unharmed, quickly stepped back out.
He turned to Qin Mu and said without hurry, “You lost your mind first. You want to be crazy, I’ll go crazy with you. Aren’t you moved?”
“This is my business. Not yours.” Qin Mu had a stern face, but he couldn’t hide his agitation and unease.
Shen Liu stared at him for a while and then smiled, “You’re in my hands right now. Whether or not it has anything to do with me is my decision. Haven’t you heard? I am also one of the kingpins of J City. My temper is no better than Zhao Jinchuan’s. He likes to trade in money and sex, so do I. Cross me and you won’t even get back to K City.”
“I don’t need your help, and you can’t force me to leave.”
“You need my help, you just don’t want to pay this sort of price.” Shen Liu’s gaze swept over Qin Mu’s face. He said without much emotion, “Just a moment ago, you swore you’d do it no matter what, even if it cost you your life. Now the opportunity is handed to you, but you’re backing out? Taking out the Zhao Family is a high-investment, high-risk venture. One wrong move and you’d lose the very clothes on your back. Frankly, the price I have asked for is reasonable. You have seen with your own eyes the sort of connections and methods the Zhaos wield. It should be clear to you that, apart from me, you have no better options.” He raised his hand to straighten Qin Mu’s collar and front that had been made dishevelled just before. His voice was unusually gentle, “Think it over. No matter how hard it is, it’s only one night. This is a very good deal. I will give you time to consider it. Give me your answer when we reach home.” Having finished, he turned and walked out.
Qin Mu stood frozen, not moving for a long time.
The road home was short yet endless. The neon lights and passing night scene became but fleeting shadows in Qin Mu’s eyes. His mind was like a rusted projector, incapable of moving forward. It replayed over and over images of the past, forcing him to remember without sense the shattered, scattered and indistinct once-upon-a-time.
What was right? What was wrong? What choice should he make?
When his own life was on the balance, Qin Mu could raise the stakes without hesitation. But the moment Shen Liu also stood upon it, he suddenly lost all courage. He hadn’t expected Shen Liu to get directly involved in this matter, and even less that he would propose such a condition. As of now, he could no longer read the man beside him.
The car was silent all the way. Back at the mansion, Qin Mu stopped at the foot of the stairs and spoke in a dry, hoarse voice, “Why are you doing this? You… to me…” He hesitated for a moment, as if he still hadn’t decided which words were appropriate.
On the stairs, Shen Liu turned around and curled a lazy smile, “It’s only a one-night stand. Don’t overthink it.”
Qin Mu fell silent. His lips pressed in a tight line. He closed his eyes, clutching his hands by his side, as if needing all the strength of his body to force the word out.
“Deal.”